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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22355425">Frostbitten</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/JoeHundredaire/pseuds/JoeHundredaire'>JoeHundredaire</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Horizon: Zero Dawn (Video Game), Marvel (Comics)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/F</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-01-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-01-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-04-28 08:48:31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,802</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22355425</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/JoeHundredaire/pseuds/JoeHundredaire</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>"I thought you might be... like me, shall we say. You're not, but you're no less fascinating for what you've turned out to be."</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Aloy/Emma Frost, Hank Pym/Janet Van Dyne</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>16</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p><span class="u"><strong>Title:</strong></span> <em>Frostbitten</em><br/>
<strong><span class="u">Author:</span></strong> JoeHundredaire<br/>
<span class="u"><strong>Rating:</strong></span> R/FR18<br/>
<span class="u"><strong>Disclaimer:</strong></span> Guerrilla Games owns the world that they've created in <em>Horizon Zero Dawn</em> up to and including its characters, its rendition of Earth, and all related concepts. With a myriad of writers, artists, and editors, actual rights are a nightmare when you go near a comic book universe. Suffice it to say that Marvel Entertainment LLC owns all of the property printed in their comics, along with the television, movie, and gaming adaptations of said same property. Not mine, don't sue, and so forth and so on.<br/>
<span class="u"><strong>Summary:</strong></span> "I thought you might be... like me, shall we say. You're not, but you're no less fascinating for what you've turned out to be."<br/>
<span class="u"><strong>Joe's Note:</strong></span> This one came to me while I was riding in the car and talking with Lexi about the state of the greater <em>Horizon Zero Dawn</em> universe at the end of <em>The Frozen Wild</em>. The story has the ability to be crossed over almost infinitely due to the very nature of the premise: anyone could have been included whole cloth within ELEUTHIA's DNA registry and recreated the way Elisabet Sobeck was as Aloy. So we started brainstorming who it might be fun to see brought back to life and quickly realized that a select few characters would make for some amazing havoc: psi talents. While other mutants - or wizards or metahumans - would come back in similar straits to Aloy and bear only superficial resemblances to their original selves, a psi could have used the astral plane to escape the Faro Swarm, only to return to inhabit a reborn body of theirs. Especially given that she's vivacious, confident, and a born leader... Emma Frost seemed like the natural choice for reincarnation and so this story was born.<br/>
<strong><span class="u">Dedications &amp; Thanks:</span></strong> To Nicholas, Howard, Samuel, Alexander, Tibor, Alonsis2, Daniel, Beverly, Daniel, Jade, Robert, Kimeru, Charles, Crygon20, Subtle, Christopher, Stephen, Fablesrogue, Morgan, Janne, Joseph, Jason, bloodylord, Marc, Ziryo, Leigh, Chris, George, Koby, William, Dale, Dimitria, Haematite, Mauday, Ken, Paul, Pat, Edward, Roman, Warren, and Jess for sponsoring my work, and making it easier for me to spend more of my time writing.</p>
<hr/></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"...we have been at peace with the Carja. It is time to restore our bonds of trade with Meridian. These envoys come to us under a banner of peace!"</p>
<p>Standing in front of the matriarch's lodge, Aloy did her best to focus on the speaker instead of continuing to gawk at her surroundings the way she had been for the past hour or so. It was more difficult than it sounded; both Mother's Heart itself and her fellow Nora were just so... fascinating. Despite Teb's thoughtful gift of an authentic Nora outfit, she was keenly aware that she wasn't one of these people. She didn't blend in. Probably because she could spend days, weeks, or even months in the village and still not be used to the sights and sounds. And... oh. Someone new was speaking. A Carja? A strange-looking Carja at that. Not that Aloy had met many Carja in her day, but she'd certainly never seen one who looked quite like that.</p>
<p>Unfurling a scroll of some sort, the red-clad man cleared his throat and began to speak. "An annunciation of gratitude, written by the hand of Sun-King Avad." Whatever the 'annunciation' was, the man never got to finish it as the men and women surrounding Aloy came alive, hurling first insults and then fruit at the man.</p>
<p>"Hey, hey! Hold your fruit! Nora faithful, hold your fruit!" The burley, more heavily-armored man surged forward, positioning himself between the cowering speaker and the crowd. "Now I'm Oseram, not Carja-" Well, that confirmed her earlier suspicions. Good to know that she had a decent eye for tribal origin. "-so I'll put it to you straight: the Thirteenth Sun-King was a murderous bung! He was! A tyrant and a monster! Raided my tribe for blood sacrifice, just like yours! My own sister was taken! I hated the Carja!"</p>
<p>A soft, throaty chuckle from her left gave Aloy a start, making her look to her left at the space that had been unoccupied mere seconds before. Somehow she hadn't noticed the arrival of a... very unusual-looking figure. She was draped in flowing blue robes that reminded Aloy of staring into a lake: medium blue from the shoulders all the way down through the waist before slowing transitioning into a much darker shade of blue. Like the Nora, she wore bits of fallen Machines as ornamentation, including a massive headpiece festooned with ribbons. If those two factors hadn't convinced Aloy that this woman was just as much an outsider as she was, the fact that she had blonde hair and bits of glowing blue machine cable sewn into her shoulders would have cinched it. Although that raised the question of why a Banuk was visiting the Sacred Lands. "I'm here because I've traveled quite some distance to observe your Proving. You're not the redhead I was hoping for, but I'm still intrigued. For now, though, this is an amusing distraction. Erend's not exactly helping his friend's cause, now is he? And here I thought James was terrible at delivering speeches..."</p>
<p>"But the Thirteenth King is dead two years now, and who killed him? The Fourteenth!"</p>
<p>Even as the Oseram continued his speech to the restless crowd, Aloy found her attention captured by her new companion. How had the blonde known what Aloy was thinking? Had she really come all the way from Ban-Ur just to witness one outcast's Proving? And- "If you actually bothered to vocalize those questions, darling, we could have a proper conversation. Since you seem to be struck dumb by my beauty at the moment? My name is Emma, I'm what I suppose you primitives would call a seer, and I did indeed come all the way from Ban-Ur just to meet you." Turning to rake glowing blue eyes up and down Aloy, Emma offered a faint smirk. "I thought you might be... like me, shall we say. You're not, but you're no less fascinating for what you've turned out to be."</p>
<p>"Not because he lusted for power, but because someone had to put an end to his father's atrocities!"</p>
<p>Aloy raised a brow curiously at that statement even as she blushed faintly at the frankly appraising look being sent her way. While she was an outcast, that didn't mean she was completely naive or ignorant of certain facts of life. Rost had stumbled his way through several aspects of her education, and so while she wasn't as prepared for... certain types of interactions... as she might have liked? She was at least capable of recognizing that she was being flirted with. "Oh? And what might that be?"</p>
<p>"The message that this poor priest means to read is an apology. Straight from the lips of the Fourteenth King. So please, can't you lend him your ears?"</p>
<p>Reaching up, Emma cupped one of Aloy's blushing cheeks in her hand before shaking her head fondly. "You know, I never did consider you that way the first time around. I was married to my redhead, you were married to your work. This time around... we'll see. Because to answer your question, Aloy? We're both anachronisms, you and I. Neither of us should be here. But the fact that you exist means that maybe I finally stand a chance of finding out why I'm here."</p>
<p>"Tha... thank you. An annunciation of gratitude, written by the hand of Sun-King Avad, Fourteenth Luminance of the Radiant Line..."</p>
<p>Before Aloy could ask - or really even think on - what any of that meant, her Focus chimed and flared to life unbidden for the first time in recent memory. Doing her best not to look suspicious - even Rost had been uncomfortable with her ability to see and manipulate something that he couldn't - Aloy surveyed her surroundings in hope of figuring out what was catching its attention. It turned out to be a stocky bald man standing off to the side of the stage, no more a Nora than the men on stage or Emma. Purple circles of light radiated outward from the center of his head within the Focus's construct, along with a warning of an 'Unknown Device Detected'. "Ooh, a mystery. I'll let you see to that." What? Could Emma see- "I don't need to be able to see what your Focus is projecting with my eyes when I can see it with yours. Like I said, go solve your mystery. I'll see you tomorrow." Winking, Emma blew Aloy a kiss with blue-tinged lips before turning and slipping away through the crowd, singing softly as she went. "There must be some kind of way outta here, said the joker to the thief..."</p>
<p>What a strange woman, Aloy thought with a bemused smile as she watched Emma's retreating back. While logically she knew that she should be unnerved at best by the mere idea of a person who could read her thoughts and downright terrified at worst... for some reason, Aloy just didn't find the blonde threatening in the least. Maybe it was because the two of them weren't really that different after all: Emma could hear thoughts while Aloy could see things that nobody else could see. Or maybe it was because the Banuk's use of her powers seemed grounded in mischievousness rather than malicious intent.</p>
<p>...or maybe it was because Emma was very pretty and seemed interested in her, something Aloy couldn't say about any other human that she'd ever met. Aloy's blush returned as she shot one last look over at Emma's back before shaking her head. Thoughts of telepathy and pretty blondes could wait, she reminded herself. For now, she had a mystery to solve: the bald man with the 'unknown device'. But as she began making her way through the crowd toward the stranger, she found herself mumbling words that were both foreign and strangely familiar at the same time. "I see jokers on my left, thieves upon my right, you'd find me in the middle if I picked a different life..."</p><hr/>
<p>Aloy let out a victorious whoop as the Grazer that she'd chosen as her target stumbled and fell, skidding along the ground for several feet and kicking up clouds of snow before finally coming to a stop. While the machines had never directly threatened her or the other teens vying to become Braves, trying to pick off a single Grazer as the herd stampeded and wheeled around them had been nerve-racking. But she'd succeeded in the first step of the Proving; now all that remained was to seize her trophy and move on.</p>
<p>Making her way over to the fallen machine, Aloy quickly drew her knife from its sheath on her belt and got to work prying the Grazer's head apart. While most any portion of the machine would do as long as it was distinctly and obviously taken from a Grazer brought down by her own arrow, nothing quite said 'I killed a Grazer' like the horns, Aloy mused. Hell, looking at some of the others around Mother's Heart, maybe she could turn it into headwear after she won the Proving? Cutting through one last bundle of machine cable, Aloy hoisted her trophy high above her head-</p>
<p>'<em>Duck!'</em></p>
<p>She didn't question why she was hearing Emma's voice in the middle of the Proving Grounds. Nor did she question why she was reasonably certain that she'd heard Emma's voice in her head, rather than with her ears. Aloy simply obeyed, dropping to the ground so that the Grazer's body and legs shielded her from three angles. There was the soft whoosh of something passing overhead, the thud that she associated with an arrow striking its target, and then... a grunt followed by a muttered oath? Lifting her head, Aloy peered around curiously. Bast was standing with his bow in one hand, a look of mute horror on his face. Following his line of sight, Aloy found Resh swaying back and forth unsteadily with an arrow sticking out of his right shoulder. What the-</p>
<p>
  <em>'Resh convinced Bast that he should destroy your trophy to slow you down. Resh is currently regretting that decision.'</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>'Emma?'</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>'I'll explain later.'</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>'You can-'</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>'Please keep moving. I have a not inconsiderable amount of machine cable riding on the outcome of your Proving, and I'm a very sore loser.'</em>
</p><hr/>
<p>"The Red-Hair dies now! Everyone forward!"</p>
<p>Aloy's eyes narrowed hatefully as the masked man ordered his men onward, leaping down off the ledge he'd been standing on as he pressed the attack himself. She still didn't even know who they were or why she was fighting them; they didn't look like Carja or even Tenakth for that matter. They'd just shown up at the tail end of her Proving and opened fire on them, striking down the venerable female Proctor first before slowly and methodically eliminating the newfound Braves. Vail and Bast had lasted the longest at her side, but even they'd fallen beneath the devastating firepower of... Aloy wasn't quite sure what to call the enormous weapon the one man wielded. Other than perhaps Death.</p>
<p><em>'It's one of the twin ventral machine guns off a FAS-FSP5 Khopesh... although I doubt any of that means anything to you.'</em> Aloy's next shot went wide to the right as she twitched, Emma's mental voice startling her badly enough to throw off her normally impeccable aim. <em>'Apologies. At least you won't have to worry about me thinking in your direction for the rest of the fight.'</em> Then a blue-clad figure wielding a staff crackling with lightning came hurtling over ridge, slamming into one of the attackers and driving him to the ground. Pirouetting, she discharged a bolt of lightning into another opponent before smashing the butt of her staff into the head of a third. "Helis! The Red-Hair is mine! Go back and tell your digital master that he can't have her!"</p>
<p>Stepping out from behind a rocky outcropping where he'd apparently been waiting for his lieutenant to finish the job, a large man with a top knot wearing even less than Aloy herself chuckled deeply before cracking his knuckles. "Oh goody, it's the Old One. I'm not sure which will get me the bigger reward: the Red-Hair's scalp or yours."</p>
<p>"You... honestly think yourself capable of taking me, don't you? How amusing." Emma's glowing eyes pulsed brighter and all around her, Aloy's attackers dropped to one knee and bowed their heads in a clear sign of submission. "With what army? This one? Depending on my form, you either can't touch me or can't hurt me. I somehow doubt my scalp is going anywhere anytime soon."</p>
<p>Helis actually laughed at that, the sound sending chills down Aloy's spine. Who laughed in the face of something like that? "You can control them, maybe even me... but what about the men about to crest the ridge with carts full of explosives? Or the ones leading a Corruptor straight toward Mother's Watch? I may not kill you tonight, or the Red-Hair for that matter... but you can't stop all of us."</p>
<p>Stabbing the tip of her spear down into the snow, Emma undid her four-colored twisted belt before shrugging off her robes, revealing more skin than Aloy had ever seen on another human being. Then Emma balled her hands into fists and... shifted... her entire body turning into some sort of glittering crystal. "First rule of villainy, Helis: never challenge a hero to do anything, especially something that seems impossible. They have a way of proving you wrong, often in an incredibly humiliating way. Now... normally I view something as base as fighting to be beneath me, but I do believe that I'm going to enjoy this."</p>
<p>"Archers, focus your fire on the Red-Hair! Leave the Old One to me!"</p>
<p>As Aloy found herself coming back under fire, she ducked behind the rocky outcropping that had kept her safe so far and nocked another arrow. Peering out of cover, her eyes widened as Emma tore her spear free of the ground and leapt down off the ridge, landing in a crouch with a heavy thud. Rising to her feet, she ignored the stray arrow bouncing off of her face as she lifted her spear high and hurled herself forward to meet the charging Helis.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p><span class="u"><strong>Joe's Note:</strong></span> Didn't really get a lot of response to thefirst chapter... probably because I didn't post it very widely. So I have no idea what people think of my story as of this point, but I'm going to push on anyway because it's a passion piece of sorts. This chapter sees us skipping ahead a bit, although hopefully it'll manage to answer any questions you might have about how the battle during the Proving - and the subsequent events - unfolded for this version of Aloy. Enjoy and don't be afraid to review. I don't bite... hard.<br/>
<span class="u"><strong>Dedications &amp; Thanks:</strong></span> To Nicholas, Howard, Samuel, Alexander, Tibor, Alonsis2, Daniel, Beverly, Daniel, Jade, Robert, Kimeru, Charles, Crygon20, Subtle, Christopher, Stephen, Fablesrogue, Morgan, Janne, Joseph, Jason, bloodylord, Marc, Ziryo, Leigh, Chris, George, Koby, William, Dale, Dimitria, Haematite, Mauday, Ken, Paul, Pat, Edward, Roman, Warren, and Jess for sponsoring my work, and making it easier for me to spend more of my time writing.</p>
<hr/></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Why are the Eclipse digging up ancient machines? And how do they get them to work?"</p><p>"I thought they wanted them for scrap. But they brought them back to life! Plugged some kind of device into the corpses so that Hades could whisper to them and call them from their grave."</p><p>"I've fought that kind of machine before. Are there others?"</p><p>"Yes. The ones you fought today, they call 'Corrupters'. But there are others, much bigger, bristling with ancient weapons. Those they call 'Deathbringers'. I've only seen them buried in the ground, but after today... anything is possible."</p><p>"Sounds to me like they're raising an army."</p><p>"If so, the world will fall. And I helped dig the pit."</p><p>Standing over Olin's supine form, Aloy's head spun as she held the Oseram at spearpoint. When she'd arrived at Rockwreath, her plan had been exquisite in its simplicity: fight her way through anyone standing between her and Olin, confront him, and demand answers about the attack on her Proving that he'd involved with. Instead, things were - if possible - even more complicated than when she'd arrived. She was now armed with far more information than she'd possessed when she'd left Mother's Heart behind, but so very little of it made any sense. Especially the prospect that images of her older self... her mother... whoever the older woman who looked like her was, there were images of her in Maker's End, a location far beyond the Sacred Lands. To top it all off, some new and wholly unknown man had involved himself in her quest by disabling the Eclipse cultists' Focus devices... and she was pretty sure that Emma was lurking around the excavation site somewhere. Which meant that she had both an ethereal stalker and a physical one to figure out how to deal with once she was done handling things with Olin.</p><p><em>'I resent that. I'm neither a stalker nor am I lurking. I was trying to give you some space while you dealt with the reason you came here in the first place, but if you insist...'</em> Stepping out from behind one of the fallen Corrupters, Emma rolled her eyes and let out an annoyed huff as she made her way over to Aloy with her Stormslinger pinned under one arm. As the redhead watched, Emma's fingers nimbly wound machine cord through an override device identical to the one that now graced Aloy's spear as the Banuk attempted to lash it into place. "I can't for the life of me figure out why this is giving me such difficulty. I'm literally watching your memories of doing it, and yet..." After a few more seconds of fiddling, Emma gave an exasperated sigh and held her Stormslinger out to Aloy, the scavenged cylinder dangling pathetically beneath it. "I don't suppose you'd be willing to help me out?"</p><p>The question earned her a disbelieving look from Aloy, the redhead glancing back and forth between Emma and her prisoner several times before gesturing to the latter with the tip of her spear. "Is now really the time to be doing this? I'm trying to interrogate him."</p><p>Emma did her best to look innocent as she shrugged, the motion making the poorly secured override device sway back and forth wildly beneath her staff. "In my defense, I was perfectly happy to wait until you were done with him. Then you had to go thinking about me being a 'stalker' who was 'lurking around', I felt the need to defend myself, and... well, here we are."</p><p>Yes. Here they were. Arguing over the way she'd phrased her thoughts and Emma's ego as the credibility she'd established as an intimidating warrior during her battle with Eclipse and the twin Corrupters under its control slowly melted away. "Just... stop. I'll deal with it when I'm done with this." Emma brought her hand up to her mouth and drew two fingers across her lips before taking a step back and resuming her fiddling with the override device. The Banuk had some odd gestures, Aloy mused, before shaking her head and returning her attention to Olin. "I've heard enough. It's time to finish this."</p><p>Sighing in resignation, Olin reached up and deactivated the Focus that had been glowing a sickly shade of yellow ever since she caught up with him at Rockwreath. "I won't beg for my life. But if there's any mercy in you , free my family. Please." He pulled the Focus away from the side of his head, holding it out toward Aloy as his desperate gaze bounced back and forth between her and Emma beseechingly. "My Focus recorded the location. There are always guards there but you... both of you look like you can handle yourselves."</p><p>Aloy reached out and took the proffered Focus from Olin even as her mind raced. All the time that she'd spent tracking him down since leaving Mother's Watch, she'd thought the decision would be simple. Now that she had him at her mercy, though, it was proving to be anything but. It was clear that he'd been coerced into what he'd done to her tribe; at worst, he was a weak man rather than an evil one. And so in the end, she shook her head at the Oseram before pulling her spear away and tossing his Focus back to him. "It will take many good deeds to make up for the crimes you've committed. Forge a new life, Olin. One of better make."</p><p>"You're sparing me? After all I've done?" Olin slowly rose to his feet, a look of wonder bordering upon worship upon his face that Aloy quickly found herself turning away from. She wasn't sparing him to be magnanimous; she was sparing him because it was the right thing to do. "Then the rest of my life will be lived in your debt."</p><p>Shuddering faintly at his words, Aloy did her best to ignore the thoroughly amused look on Emma's face as she waved dismissively back over her shoulder at Olin. "Go to the place where your family is being held and wait for me. We'll make their lives the first ones you save."</p><p>"I didn't earn this mercy, but I will die to make myself worthy of it. I will be waiting for you."</p><p>Keeping her back firmly to Olin to make it clear that the conversation was over, Aloy waited until his footsteps grew distant enough that she doubted the Oseram would be able to overhear them before arching a brow at Emma. "You traveled all the way from Ban-Ur for my Proving, actually followed me through the Proving, and now you've shown up in the middle of nowhere just when I happened to be here. So if you're not stalking me, then what exactly would you call this?"</p><p>Emma appeared to consider that for a moment before closing the distance between them, reaching out to run her hand along Aloy's left arm. "Protecting my investment? You look good in Banuk colors, by the way. Although I must admit, I'm surprised to see you actually wearing it. I would have thought it would offend those delicate Nora sensibilities of yours."</p><p>"You do remember that I was technically an outcast right up until I finished my Proving, right? Rost and I had to pretty much make things up as we went along for the last nineteen years. Including our 'sensibilities'." Blushing faintly, Aloy glanced down at herself... or more specifically, at her bare midriff. From what she'd seen of the Banuk in passing, the colors of the outfit that she was wearing were the only things it had in common with the tribe's traditional attire. "To be honest, I found it when I woke up and stuffed it in the bottom of my rucksack because I knew that it'd probably be destroyed if I left it behind. I wasn't planning to ever wear it... but it's really warm here in Carja territory. I was sweating something fierce in the outfit that Teb made me; it was either this or go native."</p><p>Chuckling softly, Emma continued to run her hands back and forth along Aloy's arms and shoulders for a bit longer before eventually pulling away. "Is that so? Well then, I suppose I'm glad to have been of service. Especially if the alternative would have been you buying something Carja to wear while you're operating out of Meridian." The blonde shuddered at the thought before shooting a baleful look at the corpse of a man dressed similarly to the men in Meridian rather than the distinct attire of an Eclipse cultist. "They're so... flamboyant. Gaudy. And it's not just one or two of them; their entire tribe has awful fashion sense. Somewhere back east, Carson Kressley is spinning in his grave."</p><p>While Aloy had no idea who that was or why he would be offended by the fashion of the Carja - which personally she found a bit more aesthetically pleasing than the Nora's aesthetic - the redhead couldn't help but notice the irony inherent in Emma's complaints. "The woman who can turn into some sort of crystal is calling someone else gaudy? Really? You don't see the problem with that?"</p><p>Emma scowled at the question, crossing her arms over her chest defensively. "Ahem. When I shift into my transmorph form, my entire body becomes an organic diamond analog that leaves me essentially invulnerable, especially with how primitive weapons are right now. That form is useful." Sniffing haughtily, she nodded in the direction of the fallen Carja man. "Clearly that eyesore did little to keep him alive."</p><p>Technically speaking, the blonde wasn't wrong... but mocking a corpse for any reason felt more than a little inappropriate to Aloy and so she cast about for a way to change the subject. Her eyes came to rest on Emma's Stormslinger, or more precisely on the the override device hanging limply from the underside of the shaft. Reaching out, she took the weapon from Emma and eyed the lashing job uncertainly before getting to work securing the object properly. "Just so you know, I'm pretty sure that this thing works in combination with a Focus to take control of machines. I'd recommend trying it on a Watcher or something else small just in case..." Aloy trailed off as Emma cleared her throat, looking up from her work in time to see the blonde brush her hair back on the right side of her face and reveal a Focus of her own. "Of course you do. Is there anything you don't have?"</p><p>After pondering the question for a few seconds, Emma perked up and snapped her fingers. "A decent corset. Obviously whalebone is right out, but even the Carja and Oseram aren't at the point yet where they can create a proper steel much less steel boning. And I refuse to lower myself to wearing the equivalent of a fashion corset; I'm not a sixteen-year-old shopping at Hot Topic." Very little of that made a lick of sense to Aloy and so she nodded in feigned comprehensive before returning her attention to the Stormslinger. The Banuk proclivity for using extensive amounts of machine cord in the tribe's unique weapons meant that she had a lot of material to work with, and the very nature of the Stormslinger meant that Emma's override module would quite possibly be able to affect machines more quickly and from further away than Aloy's own. Assuming she could get it to work. As she continued to work to integrate the device into the staff, Emma coughed softly. "I'm sorry about Rost. And for leaving. But with everything that happened, I didn't think being found at the scene of a massacre would end well for me. Not that the Nora would have been able to hold me any longer than I let them, but it would have made things... complicated."</p><p>Considering that she could read and control minds, turn into an 'organic diamond analog', and do All-Mother knew what else? 'Complicated' was an understatement in Aloy's book. At the same time? "You were supposed to handle Helis. If you'd done your job, then maybe-"</p><p>"I'm sorry, would you have rather me kept fighting with Helis and leave those two cultists with machine guns for Rost to handle? Do you think he would have done better against them than he did against Helis?" Her hands curling up into fists, Emma stepped backward to put a bit of distance between herself and Aloy before sucking in a slow breath. Letting it out, she ducked her head for a moment before meeting Aloy's eyes. "I'm sorry. That was uncalled for. All I can say is that I did my best. In the heat of the moment, I made a judgement call: to put myself between the two of you and a pair of heavy weapons. Maybe I should have stuck with Helis, and you and Rost would have found a way to kill those cultists before they killed you. Maybe if I'd chosen differently, Rost would still be alive. Or maybe if I'd chosen differently, the two of you would have gone down in a hail of bullets. We'll never know, though, because I made the decision that I did. All we can do is push onward and do our best to avenge all the Nora who have died for HADES's madness."</p><p>Aloy managed to restrain her curiosity until she tied off the last bit of machine cord, and then her head rose as she offered the Stormslinger back to its owner. "There's that name again. Olin mentioned it; some sort of devil that Eclipse worships. A devil that doesn't like me much. What do you know about it?"</p><p>Taking the proffered spear, Emma shrugged before reaching up to tap at the Focus that graced the side of her head. "Very little, to be honest. My wife and I donated our genetic material to Project: Zero Dawn as a personal favor to Elisabet. That was the extent of our involvement with the project, though; we died with our students when the Faro Plague realized the threat that my kind posed and wiped the entire town of Westchester clean. But we do know someone with a great deal of knowledge about Hades who can tell you everything you need to know. Isn't that right, Sylens?"</p><p>After a few seconds of silence, Aloy's Focus crackled softly and she heard a gusty sigh. "I'm not sure who I hate more right now, Emma: you or HADES."</p><p>"That's a very exclusive list right there. I'm honored to be on it."</p>
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